Sunday, June 26, 2011

,As we head into the long weekend my thoughts turn to the lazy days of summers past. This will be my first summer in 3 years where I am working! I have been fortunate enough to spend the last 3 at home with my girlies, lazing in the sun, heading to the beach, enjoying popscicles while watching the clouds roll by. This year will be different and I'm ok with it. A little sad but none the less ok.

As the weather gets nicer the food in this house gets lighter and easier to prepare, well with the exception of the nachos for Monday ;) As always I love hearing what you and your families enjoy eating, so please share some of your favorite summer recipies and maybe we can inspire each other! Until next time....
Monday - Loaded Nachos - For the adults in our house I take a chicken breast, cook it up dice and toss in Franks red hot. I layer jalapeno, and red peppers, green onion, fresh tomato and shredded cheese. On the kiddies side I take some of the afore mentioned chicken before I toss it and layer peppers, chicken and cheese.

Tuesday - Spinach salad with grilled shrimp from Cooking Light
Wednesday - Burgers and veggies and dip....I recently decided to try wrapping my burger in a lettuce leaf instead of using a bun...delicious and fewer calories!

Thursday - Something on the road...IF I am organized enough I will make these Chicken Club wraps to eat while we drive

Sunday, June 19, 2011

I am a lucky woman. Truly. I have a great Dad, who has always supported and loved me. He has taught me many valuable life lessons and stood by my side when I needed support (and all those times I didn't) He sometimes calls me to remind me how proud of me he is. He is a great Dad.

My daughters are pretty darn lucky too. They have a great Daddy. He loves them something fierce and does his best every day to make sure they know that.

So today I will raise my glass to all those great Dad's out there! Cheers!

Prepare rub: combine all spices, garlic and oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

Pre-heat grill or BBQ. Rub spice mixture onto chicken and place on grill. Bone-in chicken breast will take about 10 minutes per side. If using boneless, it will take less time.

Prepare the rice: Rinse rice in colander until water runs clear. Place all ingredients except sugar into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil , cover tightly, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes or until all water has been absorbed. Add the sugar, cover the saucepan and place over very low heat for an additional 5 minutes.

Prepare bananas: sprinkle bananas with sugar and cinnamon. Preheat a non-stick skillet over high heat and spray lightly with oil. Cook the bananas for 2 minutes on each side or until the sugar has caramelized.

To serve: Place coconut rice on serving plates and top with the banana slices. Place the grilled chicken beside the rice and enjoy!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Well for a few days. Like Monday. AND Tuesday. And then, well, we had leftovers. I couldn't waste an entire pork tenderloin (I sometimes forget they come in twos....) So I took the one leftover and from that abandoned the weekly meal plan. But not really, because I left myself a buffer day this week. Oh *le sigh* I wish I could be better at this whole bloggy meal plan thing. So for the 2 of you that still read my blog, THANK YOU and here you go!

Cut tomatoes, chicken, mozzarella into small bite size pieces
Grill the chicken the night before…
Grape work well…If using regular tomatoes, remove the seeds so its not too juicy.
Combine with fresh basil - you can leave the basil in leaves or chop, depending on your taste.
Add garlic salt & pepper to taste
Add enough balsamic vinegar to coat, and have some at the bottom

It is best if you make it a few hours ahead.
You have to taste it and add whatever it needs more of before you serve it. I served it with slices of baguette, but it could stand on its own or go with pita or anything else you have around. Add pasta if you want it to be heartier… but the pasta will suck up a lot of balsamic… so you will need to add more.

DISCLAIMER

I make no claims that the recipes here are original (i.e. mine) and make every effort to cite the author/website I found it on. If you see something I have omitted, PLEASE feel to contact me and I will be happy to correct it!